MULTILAMINATE RESORBABLE BIOMEDICAL DEVICE UNDER BIAXIAL LOADING

The design and test of a multilaminate sheet developed for a hernia re pair application is presented. As biomaterial applications become more complex, characterization of uniaxial properties becomes insufficient and biaxial testing becomes necessary. A measure of the in-plane biax ial strength of the device is inferred from a ball burst test. The res ults of this test for different thicknesses of the device are correlat ed with the uniaxial strength of the material, A biaxial test such as the ball burst test is more indicative of the properties of a planar m aterial than would be a uniaxial test. The interactions in the biaxial mode of failure are of value and can be related hack to a classical u niaxial tensile test from the ball burst test, The material used in th is study to fabricate the device was a resorbable biomaterial called s mall intestinal submucosa (SIS), The effects of rehydration on the sti ffness and associated hall burst properties of the SIS device were als o measured, It is shown that at a rehydration time of 5 min from a ref erence dry state, steady-state mechanical properties are reached. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.